Mushroom Tiny House: The part-grown portable home

Ecovative Design is best known for making sustainable mushroom-based products which can be used as an alternative to Styrofoam, but the company has now turned its hand to making a tiny house on wheels from fungi. At least in part, anyway ...

The company's enthusiastic claims of "growing a house" may be putting it a little too strongly, as the Mushroom Tiny House requires other materials (mostly wood) to construct, too. That said, the project holds considerable promise for both tiny home enthusiasts and, more generally, larger-scale sustainable building.

The mushroom part of the Mushroom Tiny House mostly refers to its insulation, which is based on mycelium (or mushroom root). This insulation is inserted between standard wooden panels, and is both fire resistant and green, containing no harmful toxins (unlike, say, Styrofoam). The company explained via email that the pint-sized dwelling also contains acoustic tiles made with the mushroom-based material.

Ecovative Design is offering its Mushroom Tiny House for sale in kit form. The unit starts at US$9,000 for the basic kit, rising to $12,000 for the deluxe option, which contains windows and doors. Alternatively, the insulation can be purchased separately for $8 per cubic ft.

Though we've no further details on its dimensions or specifications, the Mushroom Tiny House kit looks rather basic compared to other small living options we've previously reported on, like the Tiny Tack House, and it appears that you'll need to provide your own sustainable technology like solar panels to live comfortably off-grid in one. However, the broader idea itself is compelling.

On that note, Ecovative Design tells Gizmag that work is underway on creating SIPS (structural insulated panels), and other building materials from its mycelium material, so perhaps the opportunity to truly "grow-your-own" home – tiny or otherwise – is on the horizon. Watch this space.

Adam scours the globe from his home in North Wales in order to bring the best of innovative architecture and sustainable design to the pages of Gizmag. Most of his spare time is spent dabbling in music, tinkering with old Macintosh computers and trying to keep his even older VW bus on the road.

Pretty expensive for a glorified backyard shed. Maybe worth $2,000 if I built it on my own. I fail to see the point of this tiny so called house. I really like the idea of the mushroom insulation but until the price is competitive they won't get many takers.

Buellrider 11th July, 2013 @ 07:43 am PDT

The steel roof needs to be over hanged at the eave. At least a half inch or one inch. Water will either find it's way under the eave in certain flow situations, or will most certainly saturate the wooden shingle walls. That metal corner is a water trap too.

Both door and window need metal flashings too, at an angle away from the wall as there is little protection from the roof overhang. This is not rocket science unless you want the house to go to rot...